Nonstop fun at the Bring The Beat Back benefit party
by Daniel M Landolt-Hoene on April 10, 2010
This past Tuesday, a crew of local bands with a strong foundation in hip-hop got together at Someday Lounge to raise money for drummer Chase Pingree to replace a drum set stolen from his car. The show was free with a percentage of bar sales donated as well, so the party was all about getting loose and having a good time. Chase is actually the drummer for four of the groups featured that night and definitely put the effort in to earn his kit back.
The night opened with his latest project, a collaboration with DJ Z-one called Chase and The Dragon. This set was like the best cuts on a bar jukebox mixed with Girl Talk’s attention span. Dressed in tux ruffles and an Elvis mask,Z-one mixed Lady Gaga with Was (Not Was) and Alan Jackson into “Forgot About Dre” while Chase dropped live rhythms over it all. Every song was a sing along, and every song had people dancing even as the room was just getting warmed up.
Chase stayed onstage, joined by bassist David Mann, to back up Abadawn under the moniker The Kill Party, Abadawn’s new band. Abadawn let everyone know what to expect: “My set is like sex, it won’t last too long, I won’t be mad if you cringe, and I’m probably going to cry afterwards.” He then stormed into high energy, dark hip-hop that verged on punk as he jumped around screaming the choruses. In between songs, Abadawn entertained with call and response lines like “When I say bagel with cream, y’all say cheese!” that kept the crowd involved and good-humored.
At this point, DJ Z-one and Hayes Ohlinger, the DJ from Quixotic, got up to do an impromptu jam with live programming and some insane scratching while Eddie Valiant got set up.
Eddie Valiant features Chase on drums, Z-one on the decks, and the vocal styles of David Mann, Scotty Dell and Max Graves. David sings like psychedelic-era Beatles, Scotty brings a bluesy growl and melodic raps, and MC Graves delivers complex rap patterns with passion and strength. The three frontmen moved in and out of the spotlight as their vocal parts shifted through the tightly arranged songs. The whole set morphed through rock, dub, and hip-hop elements and closed with each vocalist finishing their part, walking off stage, one by one, as the beat drove onward.
Quixotic is a five piece band that made their way from Taos, NM, to St. Paul, MN, and has called Portland home for the past two years. They rocked hard with a steady stream of blues and funk with people dancing and nodding their heads. Nate Larson sang and rapped conscious lyrics while dancing around and talking to the crowd as the music continued in a nonstop jam.
Raise The Bridges are known for a steady mix of ska-punk and hip-hop that always riles people up. Tuesday was no exception as they rocked solid through a set where a good amount of the audience knew most of the words. Chanting choruses and sing alongs, jumping on and offstage, the Bridges are a party in their own right, and they got the room well ready for the Chicharones.
Sleep and Josh Martinez are self-qualified rap superheroes. Backed up by Scotty Dell on bass, Chase on drums, and the incredible DJ Z-one rocking a pig mask, their party is unstoppable fun. Right off the bat, Josh admitted to being drunk, which only made his ridiculous smile even bigger. They ripped through fan favorites like “Pork Rind Disco ” and “Guys Like Me” while dropping new cuts, including a not-so-subtle jab about a bad experience at Holocene. These guys are seasoned entertainers and know how to bring the energy up, play with it, settle it down, and bring it back again. They moved between songs, freestyles and jokes with ease for longer than most emcees can stand to be on stage. The entire time people jumped around, threw their hands up, and danced like mad.
All of these groups had a distinct style that was rooted in hip-hop but heavily saturated with other influences, resulting in relevant, fun music.